# Footnotes in Fiction

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footnotes-in-fiction/736902>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [November 7, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footnotes-in-fiction/736902 "2015-11-07T15:44:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Bonaventure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@Bonaventure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonaventure)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footnotes-in-fiction/736902/21 "2015-11-08T19:53:25Z")

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I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone misuse the word “greaves” in English. It always means armor for the lower legs. The correct translation for “quijote” is “cuisse.”

> **[Cuisses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisses)**
>
> Cuisses (/kwɪs/; /kwis/; French: \[kɥis\]) are a form of medieval armour worn to protect the thigh. The word is the plural of the French word cuisse meaning 'thigh'. While the skirt of a maille shirt or tassets of a cuirass could protect the upper legs from above, a thrust from below could avoid these defenses. Thus, cuisses were worn on the thighs to protect from such blows. Padded cuisses made in a similar way to a gambeson were commonly worn by knights in the 12th and 13th centuries, usually Cu...

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [November 8, 2015, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footnotes-in-fiction/736902/22 "2015-11-08T22:12:55Z")

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> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#):
>
> Don’t read Heinlein’s first (lost) novel, in any case. There are many reasons to avoid this earnest, overstuffed, underwritten screed, but the _two page footnote_ a little ways in is pretty much the breaking point for most readers.

Heinlein didn’t invent these. Footnotes of this type were prevalent in magazine sf of the '30s. And the footnotes were not the worst thing about this book in any case.  
And Heinlein deserves some credit for know it was bad and not trying to get it published when he was alive. So not lost, more hidden.

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**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/footnotes-in-fiction/736902/23 "2015-11-09T04:50:14Z")

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> [@Bonaventure](#):
>
> I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone misuse the word “greaves” in English. It always means armor for the lower legs. The correct translation for “quijote” is “cuisse.”
> 
> [Cuisses - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisses)

Nice to know, but again, [WoW](http://www.wowhead.com/search?q=greaves).

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